School No-touch Advice An Absurd Overreaction

April 7, 1986

THE NATIONAL concern over child molesting, which has prompted some sensible changes in laws and people`s behavior, has also provoked an absurd overreaction in some places.

On the far edge of extreme is what happened last week in Waukegan, Ill. There -- believe it or not -- School Superintendent Jack P. Taylor actually advised teachers no longer to touch students in any way. That means no more hugs or well-deserved pats on the back.

What a horrible thing to do!

School-age children are old enough to be taught to recognize the difference between a ``good touch`` like a friendly hug or pat and a ``bad touch`` by someone trying to molest them.

What the superintendent`s suggestion will do is scare and confuse children into thinking all touches are bad, which can have enormously negative consequences on their future behavior and their mental health. His advice will also separate students and teachers emotionally as well as physically, a gulf that inevitably will make teaching and learning harder.

Small children, especially, crave the reassuring touch of their instructors, and children from single-parent families look to teachers as surrogate parents.

Long before this ``no touch`` advisory was issued, people`s fears over being called ``child molesters`` evoked some sad and negative behavior around the country. Parents reported they felt inhibited about holding or showing affection to their own children, especially in public, for fear of being misunderstood.

The ``no-touch`` suggestion, which is not mandatory, was issued out of desperation. The superintendent is fearful of future civil lawsuits or criminal charges against teachers and the school system based on misunderstandings involving touching of students.

There is no way to avoid that risk completely, but it can be reduced in several less offensive ways: One is by careful screening of teachers, using fingerprints and criminal records checks to weed out pedophiles who prey on kids. Another is by educating youngsters about the threat they face from molesters, how they can recognize harmful behavior and how they can report it.

To suggest that all touching between teachers and children be stopped is to cause far more harm than good. The suggesion should be rescinded quickly, before other school superintendents resort to a needless act of desperation.